Diclofenac painkiller linked to heart attack, stroke: study

Doctors in the UK have been told to stop prescribing certain commonly prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs to patients with cardiac condition or circulation problems.

According to the UK's drug watchdog, the painkiller diclofenac could significantly raise the risk of a heart attack or stroke in some patients.

The drug is being used by millions of people for a range of conditions including arthritis, headaches, back pain and gout.

According to Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), it should not be used by people with serious underlying heart conditions. Its advice had been updated following a European review of the risks.

People who have suffered heart failure, heart disease or a stroke are advised to completely stop its use.

Smokers and people with high blood pressure, raised cholesterol and diabetes have been urged to use diclofenac only after consulting a GP or pharmacist.

However, according to MHRA, the drug would continue to provide safe and effective pain relief, to patients apart from the 'at risk' groups.

Dr Sarah Branch, deputy director of the MHRA's vigilance and risk management of medicines division, said, while it was a known risk and warnings had been included in patient and healthcare information for some time, the advice was now being updated.

According to research published in 2011 in the journal Plos Medicine patients using diclofenac were 40 per cent more at risk than those who were not taking the drug.

Those with underlying heart conditions currently taking diclofenac have been advised to consult their GP or pharmacist at their next routine visit to consider an alternative pain relief treatment.

Diclofenac, widely used for pain relief was the most commonly prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug in the UK last year.

It is prescribed to combat inflammation in conditions including arthritis, back pain, gout, headache and the aches and fever associated with flu.

A report in The Daily Express newspaper in March cited a study published in The Lancet journal that showed patients taking high doses increased their risk of suffering a killer heart attack or stroke or of dying from heart disease by a third.

The study also showed that NSAIDs led to a two to four times increased risk of complications such as bleeding ulcers.

NSAIDs, including ibuprofen, are among the most commonly used drugs in the UK, with at least 17 million prescriptions a year.